Cotterill stands by Hughes

22 September 2010 11:00

Portsmouth manager Steve Cotterill refused to reprimand Richard Hughes following his needless red card in the Carling Cup defeat to Leicester.
The midfielder was sent off in the 66th minute of Pompey's 2-1 third-round defeat at Fratton Park for showing dissent towards referee Fred Graham.
Pompey managed to score despite being down to 10 men, but Liam Lawrence's late strike was nothing more than a consolation after Michael Morrison and Lloyd Dyer had put the Foxes in front in the first half.
Cotterill said of Hughes: "What do you want me to do, cane him? I could go up the wall and I could slaughter him, or I could ask him what he said, which I did, to which he said `I'm sorry to all the lads, I've let you all down and I was wrong to do it'.
"What more can you say? He apologised because he's a decent lad, he's a really decent lad. Anyone who knows Richard would know that. But I'm not surprised the referee sent someone off and I'm not surprised it was one of our players, especially given how he was talking to them.
"Richard has been sent off for foul and abusive language, which we wouldn't condone anyway. But I'm certainly not surprised he sent one of our lads off. The game was all about him if I'm honest."